Tarmo’s Puzzle

When Tarmo’s around, there’s a riddle to be found

Could your brain do with a good workout? Has the novelty of crosswords worn off? Do you always complete the sudoku puzzle before your spouse does? Have you always dreamt of being the smartest person where you work?

In that case, it’s Tarmo to the rescue!

We’re talking about not a help line but a series of puzzles designed by Tarmo Korpela, Chemigate’s product development chemist, to give our readers a mental workout every other month.

Exactly how did Chemigate’s in-house riddle-solving mastermind get interested in brainteasers?

“Riddles and puzzles are something I’ve been interested in since primary school. I was into crosswords, sudokus, and problem-solving puzzles,” he says. “I always looked at the puzzle pages of Reader’s Digest too,” explains Korpela, who holds a Ph.D. in materials chemistry from the University of Eastern Finland.

He enthusiastically recommends puzzles as a hobby for everyone, for health reasons if nothing else.

“Studies have shown that solving puzzles helps to keep your brain healthy. The activity improves short-term memory and helps stave off memory disorders,” he explains, adding that his puzzle column will feature a wide range of riddles to solve.

He says, “The puzzles are going to include both verbal and mathematical brainteasers. A good puzzle is the kind you can solve without tools. It should also let you enjoy that eureka moment: ‘I got it!’”

A new puzzle will be published on the Doctor Tarmo’s Puzzles page every other month. Don’t be shy – let us know your solution to the brainteaser by e-mailing marketing@chemigate.fi. A winner will be drawn from among those offering the correct answer or an otherwise laudable solution. Only solutions submitted by the end of the month are eligible for the drawing.

You can find Tarmo’s first puzzle below. The second brainteaser will be published in a couple of months’ time.

Master potato farmer Heikki Harrinen has ordered a new variety of potato for his farm in Lapua, and now he wants to determine the effect of the cultivation area on the variety’s growth rate. For his test crops, Heikki has reserved an area of 13 × 13 meters, which he...

PULMA: Chemigate recently established a new processing plant in Posio, near Kuusamo, and now the new buildings (the office, silo, and factory) must be connected to water and electricity sources along the edges of the plot. The factory also has its own gas container. For production to kick off and...

Chemigate recently established a new processing plant in Posio, near Kuusamo, and now the new buildings (the office, silo, and factory) must be connected to water and electricity sources along the edges of the plot. The factory also has its own gas container. For production to kick off and money...